At one time or another, every automobile operator will have a need for automotive repair or service. For example, an operator of a new vehicle will have to take the vehicle to a dealership or service station to perform an oil change to comply with a manufacturer's vehicle warranty. In another example, an operator of a used vehicle will also need to obtain vehicle oil changes and will additionally require routine replacement of worn components like tires, brakes, fluids, and more.
Current cost estimates of necessary annual vehicle services average approximately $250 for new vehicles and about $750 to $1,000 for used vehicles. Unfortunately, however, vehicle operators are often persuaded to pay much more, in the form of inflated prices or unnecessary services. Accordingly, automobile repair fraud is widely known to consistently rank at the top of consumer complaints to government authorities.
Although a few prior art business methods for providing automobile service have been proposed, there is no comprehensive method of facilitating secure, cost-effective, and reliable vehicle servicing. For example, no present approaches provide a thorough process that involves initial screening of service stations, and allowing consumers to choose a service station among a pre-screened network of participant service stations. As another example, no current approaches provide marketing of prepaid vehicle services to consumers, secure redemption of the prepaid vehicle services, and reimbursement to the service stations for the prepaid vehicle services. As a further example, no current approaches provide a centralized system accessible anywhere including a program to access various vehicle service management features or a centralized database containing all data relevant to member customers and participant service stations. As yet another example, many vehicle service approaches deploy expensive mailed coupon campaigns, or complicated incentive, loyalty, or rewards programs, or the like, but no existing approaches include a means for pooling marketing resources of screened service stations to target consumers as potential customers or network members. Accordingly, there is much room for improvement in method of facilitating automobile servicing.